Enigma of Sin

Chapter 153: Stranded



Kayn stared at the screen in front of him in confusion. His environment didn't have enough mana to support the Villa? It made sense as he couldn't feel any mana in the air himself, but that shouldn't be possible. Just where did he get teleported to?

He decided that he would figure that out later, right now he needed to get to the treasury in order to grab some health potions. He rarely carried them on his person, and now he was regretting it.

Every step he took was filled with crippling pain as he had to drag himself along the wall towards where the treasury should be. Fortunately, with the downsizing of the Villa, he was able to reach the room shortly after. Now he just had to find the potions themselves.

It seemed that the treasury room itself became much smaller and even though it was still organized, everything was shoved together, so he would have to dig for a bit before he found what he was looking for.

Eventually he found exactly what he was looking for, two reddish golden liquid filled bottles and another bottle filled with white pills. He knew that neither one of these potions would be able to do much for either him or Charlotte, even if the cost the astronomical price of one platinum coin each.

The potions would only serve to patch up the worst of their wounds and keep them from dying since he figured Charlotte wouldn't have mana to heal them either when she woke up. This is where the second bottle of pills came in. They were pain pills.

It was one of his personal concoctions that utilized practices from both worlds, containing the chemicals that made up some of the most potent narcotics back on earth plus some from Talgonoth.

Kayn used a mixture of Earth's chemistry and Talgonoth's alchemy. Rather than sticking plants into a cauldron and using magic to extract the essence, he used a more typical chemical extraction set to get the chemicals he needed before blending them with magic.

However, since he used some rare and quite strong hallucinogenic plants in this pill in order for it to work on higher stage mages, it definitely couldn't fall into the hands of normal people. Drug problems were already rampant in the capital, he wasn't planning on introducing a new drug that would be highly addictive.

He drank a full potion bottle as well as a bottle of nutrients and swallowed a single pill before hobbling his way back to Charlotte. Sitting her up as best as he could, he opened her mouth and poured the potions directly down her throat, mixing the pill in with the second bottle. Luckily, she swallowed out of instinct, so Kayn didn't have to worry about her choking.

After doing all he could for now, he laid back down on the other couch and let the drugs take over his mental capacities. He felt no pain anymore, but he also wouldn't be able to do anything as he felt higher than a kite. He quickly fell asleep in this euphoric state, and just as he was slipping into his dreams, he felt a tug on his ear.

"Got yourself into quite the mess eh kid?"

"Huh?" Kayn slowly opened his eyes and looked around, quickly realizing where he was, his mindscape.

"I don't have much to say, but do try to leave this place soon. You don't belong here. Everything you need to get home is either already in your possession, or something you can find."

Kayn could only nod and he closed his eyes, seemingly not able to maintain the connection with the entity for long.

"Mmm before I leave, a warning and a hint. Don't go overboard while you're here or you will be severely punished. Basically, don't try and take over the world. On the other hand, there are…opportunities for your growth, you just need to find them. Good luck."

With that, Kayn drifted back into dreamland, or more so nightmare land as all of his dreams were of undead and the atrocities that they were committing to not only him, but the people he loved.

Waking up with a startle, Kayn groaned a bit as he felt a bit of dull pain throughout his body, but it wasn't anything compared to what he felt before he went to sleep.

He sat up and looked over to the opposite couch to see that Charlotte's outer wounds seemed to be a bit better, but she didn't look like she was doing well. She had a pale continence, there was sweat dripping from her entire body and she was shivering.

Kayn's body still felt completely depleted of mana, but his core had somehow accumulated the smallest amount in the time he was asleep. It was only a minuscule amount, but it would at least help, hopefully.

Kayn walked over to Charlotte and placed his hand upon her body before injecting everything he had as light elemental mana, directing it to her head as he was trying to get her to wake up.

Charlotte's eyelids fluttered for a little bit before they opened completely as her focus slowly came back to her. She winced as she felt the pain of her several wounds littered across her body, and honestly didn't know how she had lived.

But seeing the man standing over her, she couldn't help but think why she wasn't fully healed. He should be capable of it, even if it took him a few days due to his mana core level versus her own.

Kayn gave her a rueful smile knowing what she was thinking, "There's no mana in the atmosphere here. I used what little I had just now to wake you up. Even I'm quite injured, but there's not much we can do about it."

Kayn shook his head as he updated her on what he knew, including how he had given her a healing potion as well as nutrients and a pain pill to help her relax.

She tried to sit up, but was immediately met with mind numbing pain shooting through her body, so she screamed out. Kayn offered her another pain pill, telling her to rest for now and he would be back in a bit after he took a look outside.

Charlotte nodded and directly swallowed the pill without hesitation. Kayn himself stood up and walked to the front door, opening it, only to quickly close it again. He knew exactly where they were. The only question was how?

The teleportation scroll was supposed to take them back 'home'. Kayn assumed it would read their memories, take them back to the original teleport formation they used, or just teleport them to the place they thought of as home when the scroll was activated. But for some reason, he was teleported here of all places.

He could only think of one reason for that, the scroll functioned off of his soul instead of what he assumed. His soul had called this place home for over 20 years compared to the less than 20 he had spent on Talgonoth.

That's right, he was back on Earth. Now it made sense why there was no mana and the entity told him that he didn't belong here. But how was he supposed to get back to what he truly believed was his home now?

Sighing, he went back to Charlotte and alerted her to the situation. She seemed a bit out of it, but she wasn't nearly as affected as Kayn was by the pills. "Charlotte, we are on another planet. One that has no mana."

"What?! But how??"

"The only conclusion I could come to is that the teleportation scroll read something back from the Wanderer's Villa and took us here. It is part of my soul, so maybe the original creator spent some time here and considered it home, therefore the scroll used that information."

Kayn replied back to her, hoping she wouldn't be able to see through his lies just this once. And fortunately for him, she was both under the influence and didn't have a whole lot of mana left. She had some, but it wasn't enough to heal herself or Kayn for that matter, so she was saving it for now.

"Well, what do we do now?" Charlotte asked as she assumed Kayn had thought over this some since he had been awake more than her.

"I've thought about that, and the best option I can come up with is you using your teleportation scroll. Hopefully it will take you back to Palatine. Then you can inform the Empire about the threat from Carnet as well as talk with Kinzie and Rowen, telling them that I'm alive and will be back as soon as possible."

Charlotte sat in silence for a moment before she proposed something else. "Why not take my scroll as it's not bound to the individual? I can stay in here and you use the scroll once more while imagining your current home in detail. That should theoretically bring us both back. I don't know why you mentioned soul stuff, but the scroll is supposed to take you back to where you teleported from originally."

Kayn only shook his head, he had thought of that idea too, but there were far too many risks involved and the chances that it would fail were extremely high. The scroll already malfunctioned once for him after all.

"The chances that we would just teleport back here again are too high, not to mention, I have no mana to actually activate the scroll."

Kayn paused for a second before continuing, "Our best bet, is for you to go back alone as we know it will work for you. Not to mention, you need healing soon or else you might really die, we can't do anything for you here."

The two sat in silence as Charlotte was deep in thought, that was only until Kayn interrupted, "Please Charlotte, I'm begging you. Things are probably going to get chaotic over there and Rowen and Kinzie aren't strong enough to protect my sister. I just want them to know I'm safe and for you three to take care of her in my stead, at least until I can return."

Charlotte stared intensely at Kayn's pleading expression before letting out a long sigh. "And what confidence do you have that you'll actually be able to get back?"

This was the question that was on Kayn's mind as well, but he was told he should have what he needed, he only needed to figure out what that was.

"I just have a feeling I can do it, it may take time, years even, but if I have you on the other side keeping the people I love safe, I will be able to concentrate on my work and expedite the process with a clear mind. The only issue is how I'm going to replenish my mana."

Charlotte pondered for a minute before finally agreeing. "I'll do as you ask then, I can also feel that I don't have much time left. I hate leaving you behind, but I trust you. As for your mana problem, I know about your race's uniqueness, maybe you can eat a core stone from your treasury and restore some of your mana.

"If that fails, you do have another option that you purchased about half a year ago. I meant to bring this matter up in a more appropriate setting, but it could be a great boon to you. Think about it, alright?"

Kayn frowned as he listened to her words, even getting a bit angry before it drifted away like a leaf in a stream. He understood where she was coming from, desperate times call for desperate measures and he would definitely gain a lot from doing what she said. He was just having a hard time convincing himself that he should do it.

Giving her a stern nod, he replied to her, "I'll take it into consideration if nothing else works."

"Good. Then I'll take my leave now. Please be safe Kayn. Rest assured that I will take care of Lara in your stead and watch over the elven family until your return."

Charlotte struggled, but eventually stood up while coughing up blood. Her face was still pale and sweat was still pouring down it, but she firmly gripped a scroll that appeared in her hand.

Shortly after, a soft white glow surrounded her body before she disappeared, leaving Kayn all alone, stranded on a manaless planet.


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